• 60 Seconds with Swett: Dr. Oz to Lead CMS?

    Here is a sentence we never expected to say. Dr. Mehmet Oz will in all likelihood be the next head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He was tapped by President-elect Trump, who said in a statement that Oz would “cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency” and would see that “we get the best... Read More »
  • Walker & Dunlop’s Transaction Trifecta

    The Walker & Dunlop Seniors Housing team is off to a strong start for Q4, having closed three transactions, so far. The deals were across the swing states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The first closed in October, and the following two closed in November.  First, Alex Vice, Joshua Jandris and Brett Gardner handled the sale of a... Read More »
  • Kiawah Life and Bishop Gadsden Affiliate

    Ziegler facilitated the affiliation of Kiawah Life Plan Village, Inc. with Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Communities. After exploring over 20 qualified organizations, KLPV selected Bishop based upon its reputation in the Charleston, South Carolina market, financial strength and shared values. KLPV is a not-for-profit that was formed in 2020 to own and... Read More »
  • Four SNFs Receive Refinancing in Virginia

    Capital Funding Group closed a $132.24 million bridge loan on behalf of a nationally recognized borrower. The deal supported the refinancing of four skilled nursing facilities comprising 731 beds in Virginia. Craig Cassagrande and Catherine Mansel handled the transaction, which closed 47 days from receipt of the signed term sheet.  This... Read More »
  • Dealmaking in South Dakota

    A small assisted living community in South Dakota sold thanks to the team at Evans Senior Investments. An institutional owner/operator engaged Evans to facilitate the sale in order to redeploy capital into new opportunities.  The community was built in the last decade with 33 units of private pay assisted living, with a functional bed... Read More »
Skyline Healthcare Back In The News

Skyline Healthcare Back In The News

All we can say is, it is about time. The former owner of Skyline Healthcare (or Skyline Management), Joseph Schwartz, is finally going to trial on his “alleged” fraud scheme, although he did plead guilty.  He and his “team” walked away from leases on more than 100 nursing homes across the country with no food in the fridge and empty med carts. They basically handed the keys over to the states. It was not only shameful, but it was also criminal. Each state had to scramble, and the nursing home industry suffered its biggest black eye. Actually, two black eyes.  Skyline basically sucked as much cash out of the leased facilities as they could until it all collapsed. Not even a... Read More »
Priority Life Care Is The Place To Be

Priority Life Care Is The Place To Be

Priority Life Care (PLC), based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was just recognized as one of Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Aging Services for 2024. This comes after recognition as a Great Place to Work certification for the May 2023 to May 2024 cycle, the second year in a row it has received this certification. More than 90% of employees participated in the third-party survey with 80% affirming it as a Great Place to Work. The recognition by Fortune is just one more acknowledgement as to the management style and focus on its employees. PLC is one of the largest senior living providers in the country which has a woman at the helm. CEO and Founder Sevy Petras has made it her mission to listen to... Read More »
Ventas Restructures More Leases

Ventas Restructures More Leases

In this post-COVID world, Ventas continues to modify existing leases with major tenants with an eye to the future. First was Brookdale Senior Living several years ago, and now it is with its original tenant going back more than 25 years, Kindred. Ventas owns 23 long-term acute care hospitals that are leased to Kindred for annual cash rent of $109 million. Starting in May 2025, the annual cash rent will be reduced by 27% to $80 million, with annual escalators of 2.75%. The lease maturity date was extended from April 2025 to April 30, 2030.  In addition, as part of the transaction, Ventas has received warrants for 9.9% of the common equity of Kindred’s parent, ScionHealth, exercisable... Read More »
Retirement Unlimited President Gone 

Retirement Unlimited President Gone 

Last week, Retirement Unlimited Inc. (RUI), announced that its President, Doris-Ellie Sullivan, had stepped down “to pursue other opportunities.” That is usually a signal that the person did not leave without getting pushed out. Given what we heard about the poor performance of the company since its acquisition of Brandywine Living, we have to believe that it finally caught up to her. In late 2023, RUI purchased the Brandywine Living management company, which nearly doubled the number of communities operated by RUI to more than 70. Welltower (NYSE: WELL) owned the real estate of the Brandywine portfolio. Brandywine operated very high-end assisted living communities in top markets in New... Read More »
Brookdale Reports Highest Occupancy Since March 2021

Brookdale Reports Highest Occupancy Since March 2021

While we would hope that seniors housing companies are reporting their highest occupancy levels since the bottom of the COVID market in March 2021, Brookdale Senior Living did it in pretty good fashion. Brookdale finally topped 80% in month-end occupancy for August, reaching 80.4%, or a 50 basis-point increase over July. It also represented a 110-basis point increase from a year ago. Weighted average occupancy reached 78.9% in August, a 30-basis point sequential increase and a 130-basis point increase year over year. We would expect solid census increases in the traditionally strong third quarter, so this was not a surprise. But they will have to maintain these improvements through the... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Rates Tumble on Eve of NIC

60 Seconds with Swett: Rates Tumble on Eve of NIC

Two years ago at the NIC Fall Conference, the spike in interest rates, with the 10-Year Treasury rate heading above 3.5%, seemed to spook many investors, as deals started disintegrating left and right. That did not help to lift the mood of everyone there. Then, last year, on the eve of NIC, rates were again spiking, this time above 4.5% and heading to 5.0%. The Fed may have stopped its rate increases, but the costs of borrowing were not on the decline. At least there was a belief that the worst had passed, or at least we were in the middle of the worst. Again, did not lift the spirit of the thousands of NIC attendees, and thank you for the open bars.  Now, we are approaching another... Read More »